Christ renounced His divine privileges. Ways Christ emptied Himself……..(1) To give up His heavenly glory. That’s why in John 17:5 Jesus prays, “Glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I ever had with Thee before the world was.” (2) Of His independent authority. He completely submitted Himself to the will of the Father and learned to be a servant. Philippians 2:8 says He was obedient, and we see that illustrated when He said in the garden, “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39). He came to do His Father’s will, not His own (John 5:30). (3) Set aside the prerogatives of His deity—the voluntary display of His attributes. He didn’t give up His deity, but He did give up the free exercise of His attributes, limiting Himself to the point of saying that even He did not know the time of His second coming (Matt. 24:36). (4) Of His personal riches. “Though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). (5) Of a favorable relationship with His Father. God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf” (2 Cor. 5:21). As a result our Lord cried out on the cross, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). Though Christ renounced all those privileges, He never ceased to be God. He voluntarily emptied Himself for you and me. Christ submitted Himself completely to His Father’s will. Regularly ask for the Lord’s perfect will to be reflected in your life as well.
00Philip Holderhttp://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.pngPhilip Holder2015-12-08 02:39:252015-12-08 02:39:25THE HUMILITY OF CHRIST
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
Coeternal with the Father, and with the Holy Spirit, the revelation of Christ goes back beyond the beginning of creation and of man. “In the beginning – a beginning before Genesis 1:1 ……was the Word” (John 1:1) Claiming for Himself powers and attributes belonging only to God, Christ asserted His pre-existence. He claimed “Before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). Also John told us that Jesus dwelt in “the bosom of the Father” ( John 1:18). As strange as it may seems Jesus lived before He was born. He also prayed “Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5). What a manifestation of His excellent glory the angelic host must have witnessed in that past eternity when their Lord was the radiance of the Father’s glory (Hebrews 1:3). Did He not share the Father’s attribute of eternity, and come into the world as the Everlasting Farther, the King Eternal, Mighty God and as the Prince of Peace? (Isaiah 9:6; 1 Timothy 1:17).
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
00Philip Holderhttp://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.pngPhilip Holder2015-12-02 01:09:062015-12-02 01:09:06HIS PAST MANIFESTATIONS
“Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25).
A sure sign of sanctification is a hatred and loathing of sin. It was his hatred of sin that caused Paul to cry out as he wrapped up his spiritual autobiography, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” That cry expresses the distress and frustration the apostle experienced in his spiritual battle. David expressed that same frustration in Psalm 13:1-2: “How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou forget me forever? How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day?”
But the story doesn’t end there, with Paul frustrated and in despair. Certain of his eventual triumph over sin, the apostle says, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” As he goes on to explain in Romans 8:18-19, 22-23 (and in 1 Cor. 15:53, 57), believers will one day receive their glorified bodies and enter Christ’s presence, never to struggle again with sin. Paul elaborates on that glorious truth in Philippians 3:20-21: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
What a triumphant hope is ours!
Have a blessed day!
http://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.png00Louis Lynchhttp://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.pngLouis Lynch2015-11-23 09:30:072015-11-23 09:30:07The Solution to the Sin Dilemma
THE HUMILITY OF CHRIST
/in Steadfast Hope“[Christ] humbled Himself” (Philippians 2:7).
Christ renounced His divine privileges. Ways Christ emptied Himself……..(1) To give up His heavenly glory. That’s why in John 17:5 Jesus prays, “Glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I ever had with Thee before the world was.” (2) Of His independent authority. He completely submitted Himself to the will of the Father and learned to be a servant. Philippians 2:8 says He was obedient, and we see that illustrated when He said in the garden, “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39). He came to do His Father’s will, not His own (John 5:30). (3) Set aside the prerogatives of His deity—the voluntary display of His attributes. He didn’t give up His deity, but He did give up the free exercise of His attributes, limiting Himself to the point of saying that even He did not know the time of His second coming (Matt. 24:36). (4) Of His personal riches. “Though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). (5) Of a favorable relationship with His Father. God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf” (2 Cor. 5:21). As a result our Lord cried out on the cross, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). Though Christ renounced all those privileges, He never ceased to be God. He voluntarily emptied Himself for you and me. Christ submitted Himself completely to His Father’s will. Regularly ask for the Lord’s perfect will to be reflected in your life as well.
HIS PAST MANIFESTATIONS
/in Steadfast HopeWHO IS JESUS CHRIST?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
Coeternal with the Father, and with the Holy Spirit, the revelation of Christ goes back beyond the beginning of creation and of man. “In the beginning – a beginning before Genesis 1:1 ……was the Word” (John 1:1) Claiming for Himself powers and attributes belonging only to God, Christ asserted His pre-existence. He claimed “Before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). Also John told us that Jesus dwelt in “the bosom of the Father” ( John 1:18). As strange as it may seems Jesus lived before He was born. He also prayed “Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5). What a manifestation of His excellent glory the angelic host must have witnessed in that past eternity when their Lord was the radiance of the Father’s glory (Hebrews 1:3). Did He not share the Father’s attribute of eternity, and come into the world as the Everlasting Farther, the King Eternal, Mighty God and as the Prince of Peace? (Isaiah 9:6; 1 Timothy 1:17).
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
The Solution to the Sin Dilemma
/in Steadfast Hope“Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25).
A sure sign of sanctification is a hatred and loathing of sin. It was his hatred of sin that caused Paul to cry out as he wrapped up his spiritual autobiography, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” That cry expresses the distress and frustration the apostle experienced in his spiritual battle. David expressed that same frustration in Psalm 13:1-2: “How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou forget me forever? How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day?”
But the story doesn’t end there, with Paul frustrated and in despair. Certain of his eventual triumph over sin, the apostle says, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” As he goes on to explain in Romans 8:18-19, 22-23 (and in 1 Cor. 15:53, 57), believers will one day receive their glorified bodies and enter Christ’s presence, never to struggle again with sin. Paul elaborates on that glorious truth in Philippians 3:20-21: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
What a triumphant hope is ours!
Have a blessed day!